Sunday, August 17, 2014

I remember the message of Atty. Lope Montajes, our school Director,
during our last graduation march rehearsal at the frontyard campus stage of our school. He
said to us, "Right after your graduation, you will
never be complete again like you used to be in your days in high school." He told us to enjoy
the very last moment of being together as one and remember that moment
wherever we will be. True enough, some of us left the town days after
the graduation to pursue college as there was no higher school yet in
town even at present. Others went to other places and even abroad in
search for a greener pasture. While some remained to stay in our humble
town.

As days went by and became months and then into years, the message of our school Director eventually became our reality. But life went on with our hearts missing lots of our high school life. The message lingered in my ears up to now - We will never be complete again like we used to be in high school.

Few
months later, we were saddened by the news that one of our classmates
was lost in the tragic fate of M/V Doña Paz when it collided with an
oil tanker and burst in flame in the middle of the sea on its way to
Manila. It was our first loss, and that assured the message of our school Director that we will never be complete again like what we used to be in
high school. Then, as years passed by, we lost five more in our batch. For those who passed away and left us in this world to pursue our aspirations, dreams, and missions in life, may I request that we pay a moment of silence in memory of them . Let us offer a prayer for their eternal repose. Let this moment of silence be heard by them and the Almighty.

Yes, we will never be complete again like we used to be. But least when called after long years of being apart, please make it happen that you will come and join the gathering. Whoever will hear the blowing horn of invitation, please listen. Listen when called and follow the calling and let us be together again on that same ground. Unless you became part of the list of the departed whom we will offer and tribute the next moment of silence.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

For the past 28 years after they marched in the altar in the St. Isidore the Labrador parish church in Inopacan, the batch of 1986 graduates of Inopacan Institute (I.I.) is coming home to town in an attempt to gather once again all members of Section A and Section B of Class 1985-1986. The plan was hatched online via Facebook a month ago.

After few weeks of witch hunting around the globe, most of them were found in the net's social media and the modern telecommunications we have these days.

The number of would be attendees now reaches to 50 that includes few of the faculty members in 1986 of the erstwhile Inopacan Institute.

For those remaining members of Batch 1986 whom we lost contact with, if you can read this blog, please join the headcount in this homecoming. Be counted and join us in reminiscing our old days in I.I.. You can find us in Facebook and we are now chatting and exchanging and posting messages 24/7.

The two-day homecoming will be held at the Asunto Beach in Brgy. Maljo, Inopacan, Leyte on July 11 & July 12. Contact Zenen Dadios, Bernadette Halawig-Mastrili, Nelson Valenzona, Loudie Cloa-Sanchez, Cris Licayan-Laco, and Maralud "Ral" Nuñez via their Facebook accounts for more details about the upcoming reunion.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

In another topic, my thought of their plan to rehabilitate our alma mater is not only about the reconstruction of the dilapidated wooden and paper building (though some concrete is getting visible on the ground floor).

The school was likened to an old lady who suffered from a lingering ailment that nobody cares to call a physician until after her demise two years ago.If we have to resurrect the old school from her grave, we would surely find that we are not only rising her bones from the ground, we inevitably would open also the Pandora box.I suppose that we just let the old school rest in peace. I remember how poor the school was that every year we have to paste on the wall some used white bond papers to mask the ageing walls and ceiling. Do you still remember the science project papers that ended up on the classroom walls?I could even recall the time when each student was told to bring a meter-long bamboo stick for the perimeter fence and the afternoon gathering on the grounds to pull out weeds.

The school virtually had no money for the wall painting and maintenance of the building.The building tried its best to withstand the bitterness of its physical structure with no big help coming. Not even from the patriarchs in the Catholic Church. Much more from us – the alumni. I appreciate the care you may pour upon it now.But let’s face the fact that everything for the old school now is already too late.It suffered a lot and so long from the cancer of financial distress and management crisis.

Finally, the old lady rested in peace two years ago. She deserved to finally rest in peace. Only few of its alumni knew about the old school’s Pandora box. It deserved to be buried with the school and let’s not open it again.

Should we desire to continue the good values and legacy of our alma mater, I suggest that we give birth to a new school - not Lazaru!

Yesterday morning (at 11:00 AM to be exact on 08 June 2011), I received a text message from Mr. Boy Luego asking me to comment about the Inopacan Global Family(IGF) and his dinner meeting with Mayor Loloy Lumarda in Inopacan last 14 May 2011 wherein they talked about the story of Inopacan and the promotion of tourism in our Cuatro Islas. He also asked me to help in the rehabilitation of the erstwhile Inopacan Institute.

I thanked him for making me that important, for asking my thoughts about the IGF and the projects they were discussing about. Boy is one of my FB friends for quite some time around.His being Luego gave me hint that he is related to the Luego’s I met before in town (that include Cris Luego my old next-door-neighbor, playmate and classmate in Inopacan ElementarySchool), and to some Luego’s I met in some of my travels in Cebu. I found that Boy is actually now in Consolacion, Cebu. This guy first called my attention when he followed some of my blogs, particularly that of "Inopacan, Leyte and the Inopacnons" and this blog "Inopacan Institute" where he left some flattering comments.

I promised Boy to pop him a message here in FB. Thus, I could not go to bed now bringing my collected thoughts in my sleep on how could I address the topics he brought up in his text message.

I strongly recommend to the organizers of the IGF to duly register your group as a charitable institution in the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Philippines,its counterpart abroad (such as in the US) for the IGF to enjoy the following: ...Read more here

Monday, June 6, 2011

Long before the late Ernie Baron (monickered as the walking encyclopedia of the ABS-CBN) used to say "Knowledge is power" as his parting words (right after giving trivial information at the end of his weather report), our alma mater had inscribed it already as the motto in the school's logo. It was a seal that was not meant for nothing. Though the old school had already rested from serving Inopacnons two years ago, the message of the school's logo remains a challenge to everyone and all.

We must fully grasp and realize that indeed knowledge is power.

Value information and don't hesitate to share them with our fellow. It could be like telling a story to a dear child before the young one goes to sleep, or could be feeling like standing in front of a class of students delivering a lecture or discussing a lesson with them.

Let us not be selfish in partaking knowledge of what we learned while in our hometown, much more of information and knowledge that we got while away from Inopacan. Come and share what you know that may be useful in uplifting the awareness of our folks. In any way, share it to us all. Somehow, you could have saved one from being ignorant and contributed to the success of the sons and daughters of Inopacan, of fellow Inopacnons. Somehow that shared information and knowledge could make our place a wonderful place to stay; and its people, wonderful folks to live with. We could be among the powerfuls.

This challenge must not be only for those who just came to the portals of our alma mater. Otherwise, it is my fear that greed may create a dreaded monster within us. For sure, in every greedy monster that would exist, there would always be one who would stood as Inong Pak-an, who is wiser (and even getting wiser) to bring the monster down.

Just remember, "Knowledge is Power!"

(Note: Some old school documents show that the I.I. motto was written as Scentia et Virtus, which translate in English as "Knowledge is Strength" )

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INOPACAN INSTITUTE HYMN

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INOPACAN INSTITUTE HYMN

25 years ago, we sang this hymn in our graduation. And it was the last time I sang that. Mysteriously, the tune insisted to stay and survived in my brain's cerebrum.

This time, I sing and record the "I.I Hymn" on its original tune for everybody to remember and be reminded of the message it carries along. Perhaps my singing is a bit rusty considering two and a half decades that had passed. But for sure it's 99% of what it was.

It's my pun intended to say the following in behalf of our Alma mater (as Jesus said) that "Whenever one,two or more of you gather together in my name, I am in the midst of you." So even if the old school had long gone, let's continue to enliven the spirit of being the "proud product of dear I.I."

So, please sing this hymn in your gathering with fellow alumnus, next to the Lord's Prayer and the National Anthem.

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